Speculative nonsense

Holy crap! It's an OMC blog post

Just in case you were wondering why trade rumors in the off season are so hard to follow, I bring you the following duet of conflicting rumors about our brand spankin' new front office -

opposing gms think #cubs will trade garza. makes sense. rebuilding situation. aggressive front office.

Souce

Sources: Cubs pursuing Pujols, Fielder

Source

Of course, only one of these can be true - the Cubs are either going all-in with a 200 million dollar investment in the next 4-5 years, or they're rebuilding and dumping arguably the best starter on their staff in exchange for prospects. It simply does not make sense for both rumors to be true. There's no point in putting Albert Pujols of Prince Fielder and most importantly the salaries they'll command on a rebuilding project.

Of course, the hiring of Dale Sveum makes me think Garza is history and Fielder is a pipe dream, but what do I know? All I know is I'm disappointed I no longer know where the Cubs GM lives...

It's over...

Not the blog, although I suppose that is debatable. Many things have gotten in the way here - a crappy Cubs team not really worth writing about, a second child for me, and a new-found love of mobile technology, which is not as crappy as the Cubs this year.

I watched/listened to/followed most every game this year. I even made it to a few games this year, some on my own dime, some not. For the first time in a LONG time, I found myself saying, "oh yeah, there was a game today" and tuning in in the 8th inning. So now we get to move on and see who gets hired as GM, who replaces Quade as manager, because well, he's an idiot.

Next year will be the year we find out if the kids can play. Or we'll get Albert Pujols. Ya know, whatevs. Should be an interesting off season. Thanks for playing!

Nothing to see here. Move along.

Ok, so I haven't updated this blog in, well, forever. But you see, here's the deal. The Cubs are sh*t. Just a disaster. And there are really only so many ways you can say it. So, until the Cubs are slightly less crappy and pathetic, there won't be much going on here. But hey, that's what RSS feeds are for!

In the meantime, Starlin Castro, the boy wonder, is heading to the All Star Game. So that's awesome. And since Jose Reyes is too shy again to play, Starlin might start. It'll be nice to see if the NL can repeat. I'll be tuned in.

Fukudome is still actually producing - contract year.
Barney has been a nice surprise.
Pena is still stupidly overpaid for an underachieving team.
Ramirez has woken up, a little earlier than we're used to.
Soriano hasn't completely sucked this year.
Byrd is not as good as last year, but still not bad when he hits with a bat and not his face.

The pitching....sucks.

And there you have it!

So What's With the Ex's? Exes? What's the plural of Ex @BruceMiles2112?

Bruce Miles, of the Daily Herald and I are having a little tiff. It's ok. Mommy and Daddy still love you. And to be 100% accurate, I'm tiffing, he probably doesn't give a rat's patoot. So, anyway, this all started with this tweet -

Ex #Cubs Casey McGehee hits 2 R HR off Kerry Wood in the 8th to put Brewers up 6-5

Ok, so I looked it up. Casey McGehee played EXACTLY 9 games for the Cubs in 2008. He posted a line of .167/.160/.208/.368. Yes you read that right. McGehee also plays third base, a position that was pretty darn occupied at the time (You might've heard of the guy we have there). McGehee was a Rule 5 acquisition for the Boo-hoo Crew before the 2009 season. My point is, as I tweeted once -

Can we please stop saying "Casey McGehee's former team"? It's more Felix Pie's former team than McGehee's.

So basically, @BruceMiles2112 is just trying to start some shit. "We had this guy and gave him away," type shit.

Which prompted this tweet yesterday -

@BruceMiles2112 If you're going to insist on calling him "ex-Cubs McGehee", I'm going to call you "Ex-bed-wetter Bruce Miles".

Facts are facts. McGehee was indeed once a Cub, but I'm willing to bet, once upon a time, a teeny weenie Bruce Miles was asleep, cuddling his little spiral notebook, and let fly. We all have. Not a big secret.

So then I wake up this morning and see this -

@oneminutecubs Have at it, then.

Good enough. A little friendly, friendly jabbing. but no, I found, I was blocked. Now, for those of you not familiar, Blocking in twitter is really no big deal. You can still click a person's name and see their feed, and you can still mention them (do the @name thing), so OMC - fire away -

Dear Ex Bed-wetter @BruceMiles2112, I can still read your feed and I can still mention you.

@BruceMiles2112 Blocking me only proves that you have thinner skin than Milton Bradley's mom. Love, OMC #IllTakeUselessGesturesFor100Alex

So, I guess it's on, and frankly kinda stupid if you ask me. I really wouldn't have kept up with the whole Ex Bed wetter thing more than a couple of days, but I was blocked. That, my friends, is a sort of acknowledgment for me. I wouldn't think he'd give a crap, but apparently he does, so good for me. I'll probably keep giving him shit until he unblocks me.

I sure hope Ex Pirate Ramirez, Ex Ray Pena and Ex Ex Ranger, Ex National, Ex Yankee Soriano can power this offense, right @BruceMiles2112?

The part that irks me is he's probably one of the best beat writers for the Cubs. But hey, I'll keep reading his stuff. I just hope he someday realizes that I give people shit. It's just what I do.

Get used to it...

Get used to Castro making errors...

Get used to the Cubs playing .500 baseball against two crappy teams...

Get used to Carlos Marmol Blown Saves...

Get used to pitchers going on the DL...

Get used to capacity crowds of over 26,000 people...

What you're looking at here is a whole lotta 2011. So get used to it folks. Maybe it'll grow on ya. I sure hope it does.

This first week of baseball provided a good look at what the rest of the season will probably bring. Errors, and slick plays - by the same guy. Home runs and long fly outs. Losing late and winning late. .500 baseball. And I loved every minute of it.

Zero Expectations.
Zero Disappointment.

2011 Headlines

That's right kids, it's that time of year again when we break out the headlines and unspin them for you -

Headline: Things get heated as Cubs try to polish fielding - And by "polish fielding", we mean "not suck"

Pack Your Bags, Kids - There's No More Room For Us Here

According to Joe Cowley that is. You don't know who that is? Not surprising, he's the beat writer for the second baseball team in Chicago. But according to him, the White Sox are not the second team any more. No according to him, this is a Sox town now. ORLY? Yes a Sox town. Here's his proof -

1. The Sox were on Survivor.
2. The Cubs sell more tickets than the Sox.
3. The Sox MIGHT do okay this year with basically the same team, only no closer.

Wait what?

Yes.

Really?

According to Joe.

No Shit?

No shit.

Is Albert Worth It?

So here's a question Cubs fans - Is Albert worth it? Albert Pujlos is reportedly going to test the free agent market after this season, since his deadline for extension negotiations doesn't seem likely. If he hit's the open market, several journalists on a local and national level have targeted the Cubs as potential suitors - and they're not wrong.

With Fukudome and Ramirez money coming off the books following 2011, the Cubs could potentially pay Pujols what he wants - reportedly 30 mil per year for 10 years - and not add too much onto current payroll. But do we want to?

Albert Pujols will be 32 years old next year, arguably by most measures "about to leave his prime". A 10 year contract will make him a 42 year old earning 30 million dollars, undoubtedly with a no trade clause. If Jim Hendry negotiates the deal, he might be making more on a back loaded contract. So is a 42 year old worth $30 million.

I would argue that Pujols at 75-80 percent is better than a lot of guys at 100. There's a lot to take in here, so I'll just start the ball rolling with this post. Feel free to comment, chime in. This will not be the last post about this - I guarantee it. Unless of course he signs and extension. In which case never mind.

Cubs Convention Induced Optimistic Post Of The Year

So, the Cubs are going to be crap this year. We all know it despite what wonders Garza will do for our rotation. As Lou preached for 4 years - "If you can't score runs, you can't win."

But wait.

Fukudome is going to be introduced to the fine American tradition known as "the contract year" and he's going to be raking all year long, trying to finally justify earning half the money he's made.

Byrd, Pena, Soriano and A-Ram will power this offense fueled by the hard pounding Castro and the slap hitting and plucky DeWitt into a formidable force. Soto will provide his usual combination of light power and solid consistency to round out this font of offense. Here's the lineup-

Fuke, Castro, Byrd, A-Ram, Pena, Sori, Soto, DeWitt, Pitcher

And SPEAKING of pitching. O. M. G.

Zambrano's anger management will morph into knitting and Parcheesi and he'll turn in a 22 win season because of it. Garza will feast on the crap that is NL Hitting and come in second in Cy Young contention. Dempster will break his arm celebrating an almost win (foiled by an inconceivable double play) but he will STILL turn in 30 solid starts (it was his left arm after all) and win a Gold Cast award - the first of it's kind.

Wells and Gorzelanny will both continue to mature and fill out the back end of the rotation, with Silva having been traded to the Cardinals and Yankees for Puljos, Jeter, and a PTBNL (They'll both be assigned to Iowa, so they can routinely bitch-slap the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs.)

The bullpen, with the 7th, 8th, and 9th being in the capable hands of Marshall, Woody, and Marmol will surely get the blood pumping, but all will fall in defeat to the 3 Kings of K's.

In the end, the Cubs will coast through the playoffs and into their first World Series in a dozen Presidents and win it in 5, having lost game 2 to Carlo Silva's left butt cheek in a 1-0 thriller.

Can I get just one more WTF?

Cubs trade 5 prospects for Matt Garza.

WTF? Ok, don't get me wrong, I don't hate this trade, like so many vocal others. I'll explain why in a bit, but this DOES seemingly run contrary to any reason expectation for 2011, which is total loss. To say otherwise is foolish. So, trading away 5 prospects for a solid starting pitcher seems foolhardy. Garza joins the ranks of Zambrano, Dempster, Wells, Cashner, and a gaggle of other good-very good pitchers in a rotation that's lacking a sense of elbow room. Which heads will fall next?

Having said that, I don't hate this trade for two reasons -

1. Garza coming to the NL, and especially the NL Central can be a force to be reckoned with a 15-10 record in the AL East is pretty hefty and nothing to shake a stick at. When Dempster and Zambrano depart, Garza could be 1/3 of a solid rotation with Wells and a PTBNL.

2. When you look at who we traded away -
Sam Fuld - going nowhere, but plucky.
Chris Archer - as naysayers have touted often and loudly, the Cubs have plenty of pitching. The Cubs would probably just F*ck him up anyway.
Brandon Guyer - Utility outfielder a.k.a. Tyler Colvin beta.
Robinson Chirinos - Power hitting catcher a.k.a. Geo Soto beta
Hak-Ju Lee - Sweet hitting and fielding shortstop a.k.a. Starlin Castro beta.

So we basically gave away 3 guys we already had and one guy who will be in several years the guy we just got. So what did we lose? 4 years of downtime waiting for Archer to cook all the way through - if he ever does.

Take a proven commodity over one who may or may not pan out. He won't be the savior of 2011, but he may do some good things in 12 or 13. Meantime, we can let the other guys go eat at the kids table.